Biology: Movement in Living Organisms

Movement in Living Organisms

• Movement is a universal feature of living organisms and one of the key processes of life.

Types of Movement

• Internal movement: movement of materials within a cytoplasm, such as ventilation in the lungs.
• Locomotion: movement from one location to another, allowing organisms to capture prey, obtain abiotic resources, and more.

Motile Organisms

• Motile organisms have the ability to actively move from one place to another.
• Examples: animals, such as mammals, birds, and insects.
• Functions of locomotion: avoiding danger, finding a mate, migrating, foraging for food.
• Means of locomotion: skeletal muscles, wings, flagella (whip-like structures in bacteria).

Sessile Organisms

• Sessile organisms are fixed to one place once they have established a location.
• They rely on the environment to bring food and other resources to them.
• Examples: plants, some animals, such as sea anemones.
• Movement in response to external stimuli: growth of a plant stem towards light.

Examples of Motile and Sessile Organisms

• Cheetah: fastest animal on land, can run up to 120 km per hour, adapted backbone and long tail for smooth locomotion.
• Venus flytrap: carnivorous plant, feeds on insects, traps close in response to touching hairs on its surface, digests insects with enzymes.